Ed Rendell: ObamaCare’s “an albatross around our neck”

posted at 6:01 pm on June 29, 2012 by Erika Johnsen

Heh. Former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell has repeatedly roused the ire of the Democratic establishment in the past couple of months — and I think this one probably isn’t quite what Team Obama is hoping for here, either. As far as I can tell, they’d like nothing better than to not have to stand and defend the ruling:

“Now I think the president can and will continue to point out the good things that are in this act because we’re not going to run away from it. They [Republicans] are going to make it a campaign issue. I have always said we make a mistake, we Democrats, when we don’t stand and defend. It’s going to be an albatross around our neck. Let’s stand and defend it,” Rendell said on Friday’s edition of MSNBC’s “NOW.”

I most indubitably agree that ObamaCare is going to be an albatross around Team Obama’s neck, no matter how they handle it — there’s still that little “the majority of Americans have hated the very idea of this whole thing since day one” problem, and the Supreme Court upheld the individual mandate as a tax… after President Obama promised it wouldn’t be a tax. Obama himself said yesterday that he’s rather not revisit yesterday’s political battles and he’d really prefer to just move “forward” — it’s such taxing press (see what I did there?), they’d actually rather talk about the economy.

Just as an example of one indicator, Mitt Romney raised $4 million dollars in less than 24 hours following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Thursday. President Obama, on the other hand, raised… wait, has anybody been able to get those numbers yet? Anyone?

Blowback

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Just as an example of one indicator, Mitt Romney raised $4 million dollars in less than 24 hours following the Supreme Court’s ruling on Thursday. President Obama, on the other hand, raised… wait, has anybody been able to get those numbers yet? Anyone?

Hey, I called it an “albatross” in a posting earlier today about the ObamascareTAX. Gotta bring up that tax thing at every opportunity and create opportunities where there are none to drone on and on and on about it and keep the leftturds screaming and crying.

Romney said before that he would keep “the best parts” of Obamacare. That is not good enough! It must be a one page repeal of the whole 2,700 page nation killer. Will Romney do it? Will the congress do it? Sad to say, no.

Obama also just said he’s going to veto the defense appropriations bill if its not amended to raise heath care costs for military families on Tricare. This bill was passed in the House in May with a bipartisan vote that wasn’t even close.

President Obama has cut taxes by $3,600 for the typical middle class family. Republican plans will raise taxes on middle class families to give millionaires and billionaires a $250,000 tax cut.

The facts are clear: the health care law provides a significant tax cut averaging about $4,000 for more than 18 million middle class people and families — a tax cut Republicans in Washington are vowing to repeal, socking it to the middle class once again.

For those that can afford health insurance but stay uninsured — forcing the rest of us to subsidize their care for free — a penalty is administered. This is estimated by the CBO to affect 1 percent of the population. It is modeled on the health reform Governor Romney signed into law, where less than 1 percent have been affected by the Massachusetts penalty.

I most indubitably agree that ObamaCare is going to be an albatross around Team Obama’s neck, no matter how they handle it — there’s still that little “the majority of Americans have hated the very idea of this whole thing since day one” problem

I would argue that most people disagree about the mandate, but not the entire bill. I could be wrong, but I think that almost every poll that has been done about both the pre-existing condition part of the bill and the part of the bill that allows young adults to stay on their parent’s healthcare until the age of 26 has had a majority in favor of those provisions.

Bahahaha, pack a lunch, Eddie. Wait ’til the perverse incentive kicks in. Let’s say the Feds are twice as successful at enforcing the mandate as they are at enforcing say anti-marijuana laws, or even immigration law. There’ll be plenty of people who couldn’t be bothered to get the insurance, but now, when they need care, they get to pay a penalty and pay for the insurance. What’s a 27 year old slacker to do? Put it off as long as possible? So whatever condition they have goes away, right? Or, maybe it gets worse, and more expensive…

There’s no way to unravel all the unintended consequences to several thousand pages of unread legislation. But, I’m willing to bet, “It magically gets cheaper” isn’t on the list…

When Democrats lose a policy argument, it’s only because they didn’t explain it well enough or because they didn’t get their message out. It’s never the case that the public actually understands their argument and rejects it.

No, and neither is the Obamacare mandate, but here’s a secret, Lucky Pierre:

States have plenary powers. The Federal government does NOT.

States can regulate individuals and their behaviour. The Feds can only regulate their economic activity under the Commerce Clause.

By the way, mon cher, do you consider yourself paying “taxes” when you write a cheque to your insurance provider?

That’s the thing about Roberts’ ruling that you guys are really failing to understand…granted, he was as clear as mud.

The mandate is NOT the tax. The mandate requires you to have health insurance. The penalty, the fine assessed to you by the Federal government should you fail to comply with the mandate, is what Shrub’s Warren converted into a “tax” even though it flunks the Feiring test.

I could be wrong, but I think that almost every poll that has been done about both the pre-existing condition part of the bill and the part of the bill that allows young adults to stay on their parent’s healthcare until the age of 26 has had a majority in favor of those provisions.

If the Romney campaign hasn’t done it already, they should be making commercials showing all those lies Obama told to get this thing passed — stuff like it would bend the curve on health care costs, it wouldn’t add a single dime to the deficit, if you like your plan you can stay on it, etc. — and then show the headlines from those CBO reports showing how ObamaTax is projected to add over a trillon dollars to the deficit over the next decade, does absolutely nothing to slow the rise in health care costs, is projected to get something like 20 million people booted off their current health plans, etc.

They should also be running commercials in Florida and AZ pointing out the half-a-trillion-dollar cuts to Medicare spending included in ObamaTax. Old people love it when you cut their benefits!

it is the unseen that will do the deed. For example, you get subsidies up to 4X the poverty level. So as your income goes up, you will receive less and less subsidy. So the effective marginal tax rate on that extra income is SS/Medicare+Income+state/local+increase in insurance cost.

Not a pretty pix.

Now, for companies over 50 employees you pay 2K per person tax if any of your employees are eligible for the exchange. Now it is tricky because h/c premiums are deductible for a business…so if your current premium is 2.8K and the company gets 800, then it is a wash. If the company is paying more than that..bye, bye..into the exchange you go….and you will be subsidized by uncle sugar

a big uncertain mess

an who knows what the 1000s of regs that will face drs. labs. hospitals…etc.

tell eddy that the thing is designed to collapse, bring forth the glorious sunrise of single payer…and unionize drs. nurses. etc.

I think Roberts did a rope-a-dope on the progressives with his decision. You wait and see what happens. This is one instance where a short term loss can turn into a very long term gain if handled properly. If it’s not handled properly, it hardly matters because the whole obamacare crap sandwich will implode and cause such a disaster than can be properly tagged “a liberal progressive mess” for generations.

The great thing is we have a choice here. We can put the proper people in power November to fix it, if not, it won’t take long at all before we hit bottom in that mess. I don’t even think it’ll take until 2014 to see the fireworks of obamacare imploding like a supernova into a black hole.

Romney’s big money boost also came for another reason. Today is the last day of the fundraising quarter. His people were on the phones all last month and this month. I told them I would be ready to make a donation in July after I saw the 2nd quarter GDP stats. They asked me if I could make the donation on or before June 29 to get it into this quarter’s numbers.

So while there is the Obamatax ruling, there is also the fact that it is the end of the fundraising month and quarter and there were a lot of people pledged to give by today.

This ruling has now put 30 million more people in the market (increasing demand) without a corresponding increase in either price or supply. The point here is that by artificially gaming the market, the government has put the medical industry in a position where demand will go through the roof. In an efficient market price would have to go up and the market would find equilibrium again. But in this case, the government has artificially capped price, forcing the profession to take on greater demand without compensation.

It is this market inefficiency that will ultimately kill Obamacare from the inside out. Why? Well who will want to become doctors in the future? Or as in the UK, will we have to import our medical professionals from India? the Middle East? Africa? Further, since it is now a ‘right’ can the government force qualified physicians to practice medicine? Scary indeed.

Oh, Lucky, I’ll should have my rebuttal/takedown of Tribe up tonight. If you want to learn the law outside of the Prog echo chamber, c’mon by. We’ve been going at it for awhile and his pupil, of whom he is so proud, shot down all of his “slam-dunk, clear-cut, not-even-close” arguments and bought all of mine.

Sadly, Shrub’s Warren decided, to the surprise of everyone, to rewrite the law and pull a “tax” rabbit out of his asss – a breed henceforth unknown to American jurisprudence and unrecognised in the Constitution.

You’ve got to give it to Shrub’s Warren. He wanted to be the Rodney King of the 21st century and wound up pizzing off the 4 liberal justices, the 4 conservative justices, libertarians, conservatives, most Republicans other that the “Canadians” and the Republican Party’s version of “Mister Legtingles, Dance” – Brooksey….” and a majority of Americans, who wanted the IM thrown out.

As for Brooksey…

David Brooks: Ooo…Oh…Ooo…

David Frum: Are you OK?

Brooks: Oh…Oh god…Ooo Oh God…

Frum: Are you having an asthma attack?

Brooks: Oh…Oh…Oh…Oh God…

Frum: Help! Can someone help? I think he’s choking or having a heart attack! Call 911!!!

Anyhoo, you have to get it through your head: There are a lot of guys we do not like (Romney, Frum, Brooks, Gerson, McCain, Graham, Snowe, etc. – Have you kissed and made up with Zell Miller and Joe Liebermann) and a bunch of their ideas that we reject…like Mittmare (if you want to see the data, let me know). Just because Democrats were once slaveowners, founded the KKK, enacted Jim Crow laws, made the former Grand Kleagle of the KKK the “Dean of the Senate,” doesn’t mean slavery, the Klan, segregation and the Robert C Byrd Memorial Speedbump were good and are worthy of replication.

I have been out of my parents house since I was 17. When the first one got out of college we gave him three months to find a place or pay us for rent and groceries. Never had to mention it again and it turns out none of them ever had to pay.

ABC World News just told me all I need to know about what a wreck the Supreme Court ruling is for Obama. A day his baby Obamacare is upheld, not one word was mentioned on their news. NOT ONE! Spent many minutes on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes divorce. Not one word on Obamacare – tells me all I need to know on the optics.

Where is this 30 million dollar figure coming in? The Dear leader and his merry band are now claiming that only 1% (sounds familiar)will be subject to the taxdate ( I’m gonna trademark this). 30 million is greater than 1% of 315 million.

I think Roberts did a rope-a-dope on the progressives with his decision. You wait and see what happens. This is one instance where a short term loss can turn into a very long term gain if handled properly. If it’s not handled properly, it hardly matters because the whole obamacare crap sandwich will implode and cause such a disaster than can be properly tagged “a liberal progressive mess” for generations.

The great thing is we have a choice here. We can put the proper people in power November to fix it, if not, it won’t take long at all before we hit bottom in that mess. I don’t even think it’ll take until 2014 to see the fireworks of obamacare imploding like a supernova into a black hole.

Wolfmoon on June 29, 2012 at 6:40 PM

“Such thoughtful analysis and lack of hatred for Roberts proves that you’re a crypto-Leftist RINO who hates America!” -ThePrimordialOrderedPair

Rendell..one of the few Democrats that see that the Hussien Health BS has only inflamed the right and independents…just like it did in 2010…4 months before the election…isn’t it wonderful when the stars align,,,,

Roberts is a fool and a traitor to the law and teh Constitution. He could have had the entire ball of wax, instead, he settles for a mess of pottage, destroying his reputation for all time and completely deligetimizing the SCOTUS.

Yeah, the Bush family has done us so many favors. Not to mention giving us Clinton and Zero.

In no way is this a win for conservatives. Roberts is not playing 3-dimensional chess. He is a traitor to the constitution. And we will have to live with him for the next 30 years. As an aside, gun sales are up again — we won’t just lay down and take it forever.

There’s no apology there at all. He may have done it for other reasons, but I find his decision useful even if it does hurt you to get off your ass and do something to insure your country has a future.

Some liberals are so brain damaged there is just no hope. But ya gotta at least try before you send em to zero’s death panels.

Wolfmoon on June 29, 2012 at 7:10 PM

The ones that obsessively troll right of center blogs are not only irredeemable and hopeless, there is something seriously mentally and emotionally wrong with them. What kind of people get their kicks doing that on on a daily basis?

Face it. We buy into the bread and circus. We play video games with POTUS when it was The Hill who put this through. Imagine that. We forgot, and will continue to forget, The Hill. We are too busy at the circus.

Actually, no level of government in the US has plenary powers. You may mean Police power, something the FedGov does not have and were reserved by the states when delegating power to form FedGov.

Quartermaster on June 29, 2012 at 6:58 PM

No, I meant plenary power, which is used interchangeably in many cases. United States v Kagama is one such case where the Court held that Congress had plenary powers over Indian affairs. (I forgot about reservations when I made my statement above.) It is from the 1880s.

Anyway, you get the drift. The states have power to regulate individuals (they can require vaccinations, etc.), but the Federal government is limited and so is its power…somewhat. It can’t regulate individuals (yes, the military, but that’s a different matter). It can only regulate the economic activities, for example, of individuals, for example, under the Commerce Clause.

[There are a few "recent" cases that use plenary and police to describe the same thing. I have the citations, but I need to find them. I'll look]

It’s both a penalty and a tax according to administration lawyers during the oral arguments.

Rush nearly had apoplexy today going over this ruling. He pointed out that on Day 1 of the oral arguments, the administration argued that the mandate was a penalty so it would not run afoul of the Anti-Injunction Act. On Day 2, Verrilli gave as his backup argument that the gov’t had the power to levy taxes, so this was a tax.

It’s a long piece but worth reading – Rush put a lot of work into it and brought out some things I hadn’t read before.

There’s no apology there at all. He may have done it for other reasons, but I find his decision useful even if it does hurt you to get off your ass and do something to insure your country has a future.

Wolfmoon on June 29, 2012 at 7:11 PM

renalin is someone who I believe probably gets erotically excited by complaining while sitting on her/his butt, reminding me of the “gents” RWM mentioned@7:05! :)

the romney supporters strongest argument, given that they couldn’t defend his spinelessness, was that he would be able to pick a “conservative” SCOTUS.

we now know that we cannot depend on mitt. he will stab us in the back,as sure as i’m standing here.

renalin on June 29, 2012 at 7:24 PM

We also might get an Alito.

However, with Obumbler, we are guaranteed, got that?, guaranteed to get a Ginsburg, Sotomeier, or Kagan. Absolutely guaranteed. So, do you want what is behind door #1 from Romney or this lovely pile of steaming dog doo from President Obama, sitting right here before you?

When Democrats lose a policy argument, it’s only because they didn’t explain it well enough or because they didn’t get their message out. It’s never the case that the public actually understands their argument and rejects it.

I guess not a single one of you plan to incite your friends to vote away the massive new tax, or instruct your friends on how to hold a politicians feet to the fire once you’ve cast your vote. You must be secretly planning on voting for odumbo and pretending to be conservative just to feel the warm fuzzies.

Never mind. The whole thing has apparently sailed over your heads so far you can’t even see the contrail it left behind.

key word you used was “might”. are you still hedging bets? not good enough for me anymore.

this whole roberts thing has been a major kick in the cojones. i’m literally walking around in a daze.

renalin on June 29, 2012 at 7:54 PM

I’m just fine with Roberts’ decision to pin the tax tail on the Dem donkey, which 0bamessiah requested the USSC do for them, and I’m laughing at negative, rude, despondent crybabies like you who are ignoring that Roberts wouldn’t let the Left legally defend 0bamaCare with the CC.

Could you explain how 0bamessiah can rationally argue against the assertion that the law of the land is that 0bamaCare is a tax?

Make the House vote and then kick it back into the laps of Democrat controlled Senate. Reid the obstructor…denying the will of the people and make the Senators run on this in states like Missouri as people become more educated about what a boondoggle ObamaCare is. It is killing jobs in the healthcare industry, drying up investment capital for medical device and drug startups.

You see, the difference between a state’s mandate and a nation’s mandate is that if you don’t like how the state run its business, you can pack up and move to another state. If you don’t like the way your nation runs its business you can, well, pack up and move to another country. But then you can no longer enjoy the freedoms and benefits that you get by being an American citizen. Gasoline taxes, cigarette taxes, etc; don’t like those taxes? Make the choice to not use the products being taxed. Don’t like healthcare? Sorry, you don’t get that choice. Either pay or leave. Some choice, eh?